A.N: Kept you waiting, huh? Yeah I'm back... sort of XD. I really apologize for making you all wait, but two thinks were holding me back: first, University os starting back up soon and I still need to properly move in. Second, I admittedly chose to take a break because I felt that I needed more time to recharge rather than just rush out chapter after chapter. So, consider this chapter a taste of what's coming next time, and hopefully soon! Onto the reviews!
JaxTheGamer: Tis' my own turn to say that I have returned as well my good fellow, it's a pleasure to see you return! I am pleased that my delivery of the previous chapter, and I intend to make it even better as time passes. Best o' travels to the Reef good sir, I've been feeling that a return to Mt. Everest in in store for me! Ta-ta, ol' chap!
Omniscient Tree: So glad you're loving it dude, I'll keep working to maintain the standard!
Ultimate Hunter X: Happy that the chapter was interesting my man! I know that not every chapter can be full of action, so I want to at least keep the characterisation good. And nice catch with the Fang's modified body-suit! It's by far my favourite outfit in the Kengan series and I always thought that it would make a badass hero-costume, with a few tweaks. Thanks again dude!
ChernoAlpha117: Hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long dude, I'm back! Someone becoming a quirkless hero would've changed the story of Bnha and its history altogether, believe it or not. Arguably, people like Toshinori or Izuku might be praised because of their drive to become a hero, rather than being outcasts because of their initial quirklessness. America having quirkless heroes isn't out of the question, because A), America (just like you said XD) and B) apparently America has way looser laws when it comes to quirk restriction, as far as I'm aware. I appreciate the understanding dude, and don't worry, because I'll be uploading more consistently sooner or later!
Guest: Thanks for that dude, admittedly I'm still kinda ass at checking for grammatical errors XP.
SkeenTheDream: Happy you liked the chapter dude! Technically, anyone with super-strength can be an earth-bender, just not a good one XD. Thanks again for the support dude!
Kenrio: Regarding all three reviews, firstly regarding Kaiten's quirk. Yup, his quirk does seem extremely powerful, right? You aren't wrong in calling it top-10 material, and it is extremely strong for someone his age... its for a reason, so stick around for that ;). Second, assuming you're talking about the teaser at the end, no, unfortunately it isn't Yujiro. That dude would be way too much for anyone to handle at this point, barring Prime All Might and AFO. Finally, sorry to hear that you didn't enjoy chapter 20. What about it was displeasing? I personally wanted it to be a hype moment for Kendo learning how to fight with technique in mind, so I'm curious to hear what you didn't enjoy about it. That being said, thank you for your honesty and support dude.
And with all that said, you know what time it is! Let's go!
Rumble, Young Man Rumble
Chapter 36
Encroaching pressure…
"I'll be damned…" Rumi sighed, "It's crazy to think that so much time has passed and we're already into our first exams."
"Well shit, what do you expect? It's gotta come sooner or later," Tetsude chuckled, "Besides, I'm looking forward to the combat exams. It's the first time in a while that we get to let loose at full tilt without holding anything back!"
"Oh? Is the combat portion really gonna let us do that?" Kendo asked, genuinely curious.
"Yeah, all of the first term's final exams include a fight against the school's more advanced robots." The larger boy grinned as his hand suddenly slashed through the air, a sharp whistling sound whipping by from his clawed fingers. "We've already dealt with actual tin-can's trying to kill us, so this'll be a breeze. My Razor's Edge can carve up any half-assed robot in an instant!"
"Hah, I can beat you to the punch any day of the week with my Recoilless Kick!" She laughed, showing off a bit as she shot out some sharp kicks.
"To be fair," Yu interrupted smugly, "Both Ryuko and I can pretty easily just step on whatever is in our way. In my books, that counts as a win."
"You're being too cocky again Yu," Ryuko sighed, patting the slightly shorter girl on the head. "…But she isn't necessarily wrong."
"Say what you will, but with my flexibility at both close and mid-range combat, I'm sure to win just as fast, if not faster than the rest of you," Sendo flourished, a cheeky grin on his face. "…though when it comes to range, I'm fairly confident that Shinji takes the cake on this one. He might not even have to move to beat the exam as a whole."
"I… wouldn't go so far as to say that," He said, bashful at the sudden praise directed his way. "I still lack a great deal of the raw destructive power that the rest of you have. Not to mention, I personally feel that the ability to deal massive damage quickly is something that belongs to Rumi and Kendo."
"Y'know, I'm pretty sure Kendo hits harder than I do," Rumi pointed out with a smile. "I've got the fastest movement and singular attack-speed out of everyone here, but what lets him keep up and even pass me by is his size and constant pressure."
"True," Kendo said, "But you still have a knack for coverin' distance faster than me, and it's thanks to that speed and agility that you're able to cover way more creative angles than I'm capable of. Where I can easily fight on the ground, you can change up the terrain and disrupt my balance to make my life a living hell trying to hit ya'."
"Yeah but you're able to keep your balance way better than before, so that kinda negates me messing with the terrain," She shot back.
"Maybe, but that still doesn't change the fact that you can use walls and shit to kick off and come at me from all directions," He pointed out, both of them playfully leaning closer towards each other.
"You can get to me with one solid punch, no matter where it lands," She said.
"Sure, but your precision beats mine," He refuted
"Precision doesn't beat toughness."
"But I can't toughen naturally weak spots," He said, grinning triumphantly as Rumi struggled for find a retort, only to pout in annoyance as she failed to find one. "That's one point for me hon'."
"Oh shut up and kiss me," She growled, laughing as Kendo easily swept her up into his arms, spinning her around before they both kissed each other deeply, heedless of the cheering and hooting around them.
"Get a damn room!" Tetsude cackled, slapping his knee. Truly, over the past few months, things seemed to have calmed down considerably, life once again becoming a matter of study-routines and training once again for everyone. Rumi and Kendo relished on constantly getting stronger and stronger, even if only by their small increments thanks to the time required to study in the first place (something Kendo still wasn't too keen about). Through it all though, there were two things that still bothered them: the suspiscion behind the collective attack on them during their Internships, and the fact that Rumi was still struggling to reveal something personal to Kendo. The two were undoubtedly happy with each other, yet Rumi couldn't help but feel that she was wronging him by not just telling him what was wrong, ironically made somewhat worse when he simply smiled and kissed her on the forehead, always saying "It's okay. Tell me whenever you're ready."
'This idiot's got me hopelessly in love with him,' She groaned internally, waving goodbye to the rest of the class as they went their separate ways for the end of the day. With the written test coming up just around the corner, the two had opted to lighten up on physical training and focus a bit more studying, planning on taking the following week before the physical exams to properly tune up and nail their techniques down.
"So call me curious," He said after a moment, "But has Musha been keeping contact with you?"
"Yeah actually. The old man's keeping tabs on my training, being a pain in my ass as per usual," He sighed, though her smile was obvious. "He keeps reminding me that I've still got a ways to go before I really master my fighting-style and combat in general. Never stops telling me that I haven't really mastered the point behind recoilless or made it my own, and I kinda get it."
"Lemme guess, you've got the general idea, but you're stumped on how to bring it further?" Kendo asked with a grin, getting an exasperated nod from her. "With you there. I still can't use Demons-Bane and the closest I've got is God-Slayer. Even then, I'm not sure what exactly I'm missing to make it complete."
"We'll figure it out sooner or later," She said with a confident smirk, Kendo grinning back as they laced their hands together. He bent down to lightly kiss her knuckles before they walked on home, blushing and grinning like schoolkids… which they were, frankly speaking.
…
"Alright, last question," Rumi said, holding a book in front of her face as she idly threw kicks with her left leg. "What's nine plus ten?"
"Twenty-one," He answered idly, holding a plank position as Rumi balanced on top of him.
"Pfft," She snorted, "Dead meme. Seriously though, tell me the one grey area behind hero-ethics that the government is still having issue regulating to this day."
"Oh, that's easy: how heroes fight and portray themselves. Everyone wants heroes that are nothin' but goody-two-shoes with big smiles. Only problem is, a lot of the public's opinions are stuck on All Might's image. Get a high-rank asshole like Endeavour, doubt starts to seep in. Not to mention, a lot of civilians don't really know what its like to be in a knife-edge deathmatch, where you ain't got a choice but to pull that trigger. When that's made clear, people start to get scared."
"How has the government tried to deal with it?" Rumi pressed, her kicks getting faster and sharper.
"They don't, not anymore. Instead, they let the ranking-system and public's opinions do the majority of the work for them. Both of them are naturally intertwined, so that a better positive public outlook of the hero almost always correlates with a higher ranking."
"Any exceptions to the rule?"
"Endeavour, because Endeavour." That earned a snort from Rumi. "Also there's Captain Celebrity in America, similar case of Endeavour. Really strong hero, but full of scandals and a narcissistic asshole to boot."
"Wouldn't write that down during on the exam, but you ain't wrong," She chuckled.
"Hey, you never know, right?" He laughed back. "But the final exception to the rule was one of the previous Number 1 heroes, the Jade Emperor. A lot of reports confirm that his telekinetic quirk made him on par with All Might in terms of raw power, but the main issue was how openly brutal he was with opponents and villains. Government steps in and tries to strip him of his license, and all of a sudden you've got a super-powerful hero throwing a mindless tantrum that ends up ripping through Asia."
"Seems about right!" Rumi said hopping off his back while Kendo sprung to his feet with relative ease, rolling out his shoulders. She hopped up and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before they sat down, Rumi nestling comfortably on his lap. "Good job babe, I know that you're gonna ace this test. That, or we've been studying the wrong shit and you're gonna nosedive right into the floor."
"Wooow, thanks for the vote of confidence," He droned, wrapping his arms around her waist. "You fill me with so much inspiration and undying drive."
"Damn right I do!" She laughed proudly, snuggling in further with a big grin on her face. "Now shut up and lets cuddle."
"Will do," He said dutifully, a quick kiss placed on her cheek as they lay back and relaxed. They soaked in the peace of the moment, content with simply being around each other. After a moment, Kendo gently squeezed Rumi a bit tighter, kissing her on top of her left ear, a content sigh coming from her. 'God, I really got lucky with this one, didn't I?' He thought happily as he took her hand and kissed her slightly calloused knuckles. Something rumbled his chest, leaning in and kissing Rumi on the neck, eliciting a surprised giggle from her. 'I…' He continued, peppering her with more and more kisses, a hot sensation building in his stomach. 'I want more.' He bared his teeth slightly and bit down right where her neck met the taut muscle of her shoulder. The bite wasn't painful, but the sensation alone startled Rumi, flinching as she yelped in surprise. Kendo immediately backed off, eyes snapping wide and his mind yanked from the haze he was in, like getting a bucket of ice-cold water dumped on his head.
"Kendo, wha-?"
"I-I'm sorry! I didn't mean to pull that shit, I just-!"
"Kendo, cool it," She said sharply, instantly shutting the boy up. Her face was mostly blank with a light blush in her cheeks, but he had never seen such a look in her eyes: the raw, fiery intensity in them made something in his chest leap. Tenfold as a sharp grin stretched across her face, her hands on his face. "… where did that come from?"
"I, uh…" He gulped, "…dunno. I just… wanted…" He clammed up, his heart beating faster as she straddled him, pushing up slightly so that they were almost eye-level. "I wanted you." Her face was red, but her glee was unmistakable.
"This is the first time you've made a move like that," She said lowly, her hot breath washing over his face, "And I like it." The dam cracked, and they surged forward, lips mashing together with previously unfelt intensity. She wrapped her powerful legs around his body, his arms gripping her own snatched waist. They got lost in the overwhelming sensations of each other, each kiss leaving a wet smack echoing through the apartment, her hands in his hair. It was her that initiated the use of a tongue, playfully darting out to tap his own, but it was him to boldly push it further, tangling his tong with her own.
"Mmm~!" She groaned in surprise and hazy pleasure, ears shivering slightly as they drooped. His hand dropped low and lower, but he barely managed to catch himself, breaking the lip-lock off as they stared at each other, red-faced and breathing deeply.
"…Can I…?"
Almost annoyed, she grabbed his wrist and forced his hand down, an immediate feeling of utter, raw, holy elation. Something that every teenage boy dreamed of at least once, a true treasure of divine proportions. Not massive or small, but perfectly proportioned to her and toned, it was slightly squishy yet firm with toned muscle.
'…Ass…' His brain sighed, utterly enlightened.
"Did you really just sigh the word ass?" Rumi snickered.
"Guess I did," He said dreamily, completely unashamed. "…You've got some great cheeks."
"Pfft, weirdo," She said, though her face turning even redder was telling. More-so as he gently squeezed. She twitched, stifling a squeak as her eyes shut tight.
"S-sorr-!"
"I swear to god, say sorry again and I'll kick you," She growled. He grinned giddily in response as he squeezed again, earning another stifled moan that stoked that fire in his stomach. Rumi herself wasn't faring much better, arguably 'worse' in this situation.
'Holy crap, where's this coming from?' She wondered in the back of her head. '…I like this. Holy shit, I really like it when he does this.' She felt him pull away from the tongue-laced kiss before his teeth began to attack her neck. She gasped, melting into it as she bared her neck even more for him, right there and then. 'For me to show my most vulnerable spot…' She let another breathy moan out at the electricity coursing through her from every bite, every squeeze. Something buried deep in her, something primal almost opened its eyes as his thumb brushed against her tail, raw lightning shooting up her spine, and then–
*PRRRIIIIINNNG*
Both of them were instantly snapped out of the impassioned haze, so incomprehensibly enraged that something dared to interrupt them. They openly snarled as their eyes snapped to the offending sound before they calmed down, Rumi only somewhat at the sight of who it was on the phone. "Always find something else to fuck up, huh?" She grumbled beneath her breath, something that Kendo heard. "Sorry, just…"
"It's cool babe," He sighed, kissing her on the cheek before grinning bashfully. "For what it's worth… that felt really good." Rumi's heart squeezed at the adorable look on his face.
'How the hell can he go from shy-guy to beast just like that?' She whined, 'That's really hot.' She was brought back to reality but another annoying ring, looking at the phone. She was about to open it, only to freeze. '…Kendo's right there.' Her breathing got a bit shallower, panic starting to seep into her mind.
Kendo was many things, but he was not stupid. He had a strong feeling for the longest time that something was at least off between Rumi and her father, with her unable to say what exactly was going on between them. He knew not to push her with something like that, but to see her react such a way… he gently reached out and grabbed her free hand, her head snapping to look at him of openly portraying the fresh fear in her eyes.
"It's alright," He said simply, doing his best to smile.
The little gesture seemed to be enough to calm her down, Rumi breathing out slowly and nodding. She steeled herself, opening the phone before putting it on loudspeaker. 'It's time that he at least knew something.'
"So, it's come to my attention that you haven't been doing your job," A snarky voice cut through the air, instantly making her tense up.
"I've been doing my job, sir," She said back just as sharply, "Both my physical and written grades are exactly as you've asked them, I haven't made a single slip up and I'm getting nothing but high marks-!"
"And I have yet to hear a call from Musha." Rumi clammed up at that. "Time is money Rumi, and you have cost me greatly."
"Y-you're still living it large, you have no right to tell me that you've lost money!" She argued back, yet the tremor in her voice was obvious.
"And you have been getting far too uppity with that nasty attitude of yours," He snapped back, a tone of smugness in his voice, "I'm getting incredibly close to dropping you from U.A. Your incompetence is more than enough reason for me to do so."
"WAIT!" She yelped, her entire body slumping in defeat. "Fucking… just wait. I'll get a perfect score in the exams."
"Hah! Really now? I highly doubt that. You were barely able to scrape a win past that fool in the Tournament. What makes you think you're suddenly able to best the most advanced combat-technology U.A has to offer?"
"I-"
"Psh,I shouldn't have ever allowed your grandfather to encourage you to pursue such foolishness… you know what? Why not? I'll humour you this time around. All you need to do is get a perfect score on either the written or the physical. Although, you're still completely screwed either way. No matter. Just remember this: you are nothing without me and my support. This is your fault."
*BEEP*
"MOTHERFUCKER!" She screamed in unbridled rage, leaping to her feet and lashing out with a horrifyingly fast kick, ripping through a wooden chair and sending the broken remains rocketing through the window (thankfully already open) like a shell from a shotgun. She immediately broke down into tears, sinking to her knees as she cried out again, wordless and in anguish. It wasn't long before Kendo was hugging her tightly, gently rocking her back and forth. She cried for a while, despair overcoming her at the sheer impossibility of the task at hand. Rumi was smart, an above average student and a brilliant fighter, but it was literally impossible to get a near-perfect score on the combat-exam, much less a flawless victory.
It took time, but Rumi eventually quieted down, small sobs escaping from her every once in a while. "I-I'm sorry…" She sniffed, "I should've told you sooner… God, what does it matter? That fuckin' asshole already has me under his thumb, and now I'm screwed because I didn't do my job!" Kendo was silent, but his teeth ground together. "… maybe it is my fault. Maybe if I had just… just shut up and done what I was supposed to do-!"
"Rumi, get up."
"…huh?"
"Shut the hell up and stand."
Confused at the steel in his voice she stood with him, red eyes meeting yellow. She was surprised at the raw fury in his eyes, some of it directed at her. She wilted at it, thinking that his anger was directed at her for her lack of truthfulness until–
"Who are you?"
"…?"
"Who are you?" He repeated, still as intense.
"…R-Rumi Usagiyama."
"Damn right you are!" He barked, tapping her head with a pointed finger. "Don't let that asshole get into your head like that. This isn't. Your. Fault. Use some common goddamn sense. Understand?" Blunt, straightforward and right to the point. It took her a moment, but she snickered and wiped some snot from her nose, Kendo grinning softly back.
"Thanks… but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm screwed."
"Says who?" He shot back, "Grab your shit, we've still got an hour of daylight to burn, and more than enough time in the night."
"What for?"
"Pfft, what else?" He chuckled, "Let's train our asses off, and get you that perfect score in the Combat Exam!"
A.N: What sweethearts, always there to give each other a hug and light a fire under their respective asses, am I right? Welp, hope you enjoyed the chapter, and keep an eye out for the next one... fists are gonna fly.